Secrets and Pictures
by Vikitty
Summary: Mulder has been arriving to work later than usual recently, and Scully can't help but blush everytime her mind wanders elsewhere. Will this cause a problem between the two agents? It's not what you think... or maybe it is! XP
1. Sleepless

Secrets and Pictures – Chapter 01 

**Disclaimer: **I don't own any of the characters (quite unfortunate). They all belong to Mr. Chris Carter, FOX and 1013 productions (and whatever company/people I'm missing here).

**Spoilers**: No spoilage. Don't worry. Oh, but it happened. Then again, trust no one.

**Characters**: Fox "Spooky" Mulder, Dana Scully, Walter Skinner, Diana "The Fowl One" Fowley, Alex "Ratboy" Krycek

**Shipperage: **Ahh… that would be spoiling. I'll leave that up to your imagination.

--

Fox Mulder slammed the door to A.D. Walter Skinner's office open but stopped moving shortly after that. Skinner and his partner, Scully, both had their heads turned towards the door with identical scowls on their faces. 

"Sorry, am I late for the party?" he asked lightheartedly in hopes of bringing peace. He stepped in and closed the door, not before giving the secretary, who was staring at him with pursed lips, a sheepish smile. 

"I will not tolerate you being late morning meetings anymore, Agent Mulder," Skinner said, his voice hard and unwavering. 

"Sorry, sir. I won't be tomorrow." 

"You better not. Sit down." With that, Skinner skimmed through the folder on his desk and questioned them on their latest case. 

Dana Scully noticed, whilst being interrogated, that her partner wasn't really paying much attention. His eyes, somewhat tired looking, seemed to wander around the room whenever Skinner had his head down. It was as if he was hiding something from the two people he trusted the most. But then again, she had a little secret of her own also. Just the thought of **him** sent her blushing like a schoolgirl caught writing a love letter. 

"… Scully? Scully, are you feeling all right? You look a bit flushed." 

The sound of Mulder's voice sent her spiraling back to earth, where she swallowed hard as her eyes focused on the present. Mulder was standing in front of the door facing Skinner's desk. She turned back to Skinner, who was staring at her. "Are we, uh, are we done?" 

Skinner nodded and stood up. Following Scully to where Mulder was standing he said, "Perhaps you two should get some more sleep. Or actually, maybe you," he pointed to Scully, "should get some more sleep, and you, Mulder, should sleep less." 

Mulder and Scully looked at each other, then back at their boss before exiting. But before the door closed, Mulder poked his head back and spoke to Skinner's retreating back, "I-I think I should sleep more too, sir." And then the door snapped shut. 

_--_

_A/N: Short, I know, more to come for sure!_


	2. YaYa's

Secrets and Pictures – Chapter 02 

Back down in the basement where Mulder's office resided, a two way grilling was going on. 

"So why were you late?" Scully asked, leaning against the side of Mulder's desk. Mulder sat down in his chair and gave her a blank look. "Seriously. Three days in a row, Mulder! And you come in like the walking dead!"

Her partner sighed and leaned back. "Been working hard, that's all."

"That's crap, Mulder, you and I both know it. You can go three days without sleep and get here on time." He gave her a small, rather foolish smile, which prompted her imagination to think of the wildest, least possible thing. Scully stood up and faced her partner, her eyes wide with shock. "Are you seeing somebody?" she whispered. 

Mulder gave her another blank look, which hid his deepest feelings, yet even that couldn't keep the hurt out of his voice. "You don't have to be so shocked…"

"You have **got** to be kidding me."

"What? A guy's got to get his ya-ya's out some way," he replied shyly. 

Scully raised an eyebrow, though a smile was tugging on the corners of her mouth. "Fox Mulder has a sex drive?" she asked, dodging the playful kick he gave her. "Who's the lucky lady?" 

Mulder, who was smiling, shifted his eyes to his office door and scowled. 

Scully attempted to twist her head around to check whom the newcomer was, but couldn't manage it so she shuffled her whole body. The instant her eyes landed on the dark, handsome man leaning against the bland door, she looked down and muttered something incoherent.

"What are you doing here, Krycek? Who let you through security?" Mulder questioned, standing up to his full height and filling his office with a powerful man-aura. 

Alex Krycek, ex-mole for the CSM, now roaming nomad, smirked at his old partner. "I got a special pass. So I got in… legally." He smoothed his black shirt free of lint before looking up at Mulder again. 

"Was it Skinner?" Mulder asked, shifting a still-muttering Scully aside so he could stand an inch away from Krycek, blocking his way and view into the office.

"Get out of my way, Mulder." 

"Shut the hell up, Krycek. My office, my rules." 

"Isn't this Agent Scully's office, too?" Krycek asked, tilting his head to one side. Something in his voice made Mulder narrow his eyes and turn towards Scully, who suddenly had her coat in her hands and was walking towards the two men. 

As she passed them, Scully mumbled something again without looking at either man, and walked out without waiting. 

"Did she just say 'Come on, Alex'?" Mulder asked, his voice suddenly quiet, all rage from before gone. 

Krycek smirked again and kissed Mulder on the cheek. "_Doh svidaniya, Comrade_," he whispered into his ear before following Scully with a huge grin on his face.

Mulder stood frozen to the spot as millions of thoughts flew into his head. The final thought - "… What!?"

--

_A/N: Hope you enjoyed that! I couldn't help laughing when I played this scene in my head… the look on Mulder's face and Krycek's smirks and grins… _


	3. It Can't Be

Secrets and Pictures – Chapter 03 

It wasn't like him to have his mind somewhere else while on a date, but alas, Mulder's mind was still frozen in the depths of the FBI HQ. Were Scully and Krycek…? But it can't be… she hates his guts! But she **did** tell that rat to follow her, didn't she? 

"Fox?" 

The voice brought Mulder back to the present. As his eyes focused on the dry ribs in front of him, and the red placemat on white table cloth, he couldn't help but think about Scully and Krycek doing the nasty. 

"Fox? Are you all right?" 

He looked up and forced a smile. "Yeah, I'm okay. In fact, I'm great. Thank you, Diana." Diana Fowley sat opposite him in a spaghetti strap black dress. She had dressed for him, and he was thinking about… them. 

"You just look a bit distracted that's all. If you're tired, we can go home…" She left off the rest, but it wasn't hard to pick up what she was suggesting. Wasn't hard because they've been at it every night for the past three nights, and also because his mind was already there, except it wasn't him and Diana. 

"No, no. I'm not that tired. I'm having a great time, and you pick **the **greatest restaurants, you know that?" That's right. Make conversation… keep the mind away from those two. 

Diana laughed, "You're such a pig, you know that? But if you're finished that, lets take a stroll downtown." 

Mulder nodded, paid, and then left, hand in hand with Diana. He actually felt sort of bad for not telling Scully about his new love, but he knew the two did not get along well. Knew she would disapprove. When did it matter if his dates made Scully happy? Maybe it was because Scully was like a sister to him. He hoped that was it. 

"… Get to work okay this morning?" She was talking again. They were nearing the park near his apartment. Well, not so near, but near enough.

"Oh yeah. Got a bit of a scolding from ol' Skinner, but that's about it. No spanking or grounding," he joked. And she laughed. 

The sound of her laughter made his heart flutter, and he gave her a boyish grin for the heck of it. She pulled her in for a kiss, but what caught his eye made him stop. Was that Krycek up ahead? It was hard to tell from behind. Was Krycek all dressed up? Maybe he was already like that when he came to 'pick up' Scully – black shirt, black pants, black shoes, white top? And that woman next to him, she looks about Scully's height. But Scully doesn't own a black wool sweater double her size, and an ankle length skirt, does she? He's only ever seen her in her professional attire. That can't be Scully – her hair is too long! But Scully's hair is getting long, too, but past her shoulders? Maybe he just never noticed her 'that way' before. 

"… Fox? Who are you looking at? Fox?" 

"What?" He looked back at the woman in his arms and gave her a peck on the lips. "Nobody. Just you." 

"But you were—" 

He silenced her with another kiss. "Just you. Let's go back to my place." He led the way, albeit he was a bit shaky. He couldn't help but turn back for another look, just to make sure it wasn't Scully and Krycek. But he still couldn't see their faces, even though they were in profile. Their lips were locked in a deep passionate kiss, and he could only hope it wasn't them.

--

_A/N: I don't like 'The Fowl One'… (*sings as she finishes watching the sixth extinction: amor fati* ding dong the witch is dead!)_


	4. Harmless Flirtations

Secrets and Pictures – Chapter 04

Dana Scully had her hands in her trench coat pocket, her right hand playing with her keys. Alex Krycek was walking on the left side of her, telling her about his childhood. They had finished a small dinner at a café, and now were walking through downtown towards a small park.

"So, I've never told anybody this," he said, his hands in his pockets playing with his keys. "But my parents aren't really Cold War immigrants. I just tell everybody that because it sounds more interesting than 'my parents are Russian, so that's how I know Russian.'"

"So were your parents in the Cold War?" Scully asked, honestly interested. Krycek was a total mystery to her. Sure, he could be an ass, but maybe he was just acting that way because people think he's like that.

Krycek paused. "Well… maybe. I don't really know what they did. They were pretty hush-hush about their jobs. Sometimes they disappeared for months, so I'd be left alone with the dog. Or I'd spend some time with my grandmother, who ignored me most of the time." He shrugged. "It was a pretty sad childhood," he mumbled, walking over to a bench. They were in a park of some sort, and the bench overlooked a small lake. He had worn a black button up shirt and black trousers – black was his favourite colour, after all.

Scully sat down. She felt bad for bringing up his childhood. "Well, we all have bad memories," she said. That was so lame, she thought. I'm _so_ not good at comforting people, especially semi-strangers. She looked across the lake and saw a somewhat mismatched couple. The man was a head taller than the woman. He was all dressed up, and she was wearing a sweater and skirt. She smiled a little when a little thought passed through her mind.

Krycek noticed. "What?" He looked in the direction she was looking at. "Hey, that looks like us."

"My thoughts exactly." Scully looked down at what she was wearing – her FBI wear. A red blouse, black pants, and heels. I'm way too short to wear ankle length skirts, she thought. But if that woman can pull it off, I should be able to.

The couple started making out. Public displays of affection should be banned, Scully mused.

Krycek cleared his throat. Scully looked at him and their eyes met. Scully realized that it was the first time they made eye contact tonight.

Awkward silence.

"So, you didn't tell Mulder about us?" Krycek asked, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his thighs, breaking the eye contact.

Scully shook her head. "No. I didn't think it was necessary." Or maybe I'm just too chicken to tell him. She mentally slapped herself for thinking that last part. He was keeping a secret too… plus there's nothing to tell him. Yeah, that's right.

Krycek nodded and shuffled about. "I'm horrible at positive conversations," he said, chuckling sadly. "It comes with being everybody's rat. By the way, thank you…" He looked at her again. His eyes were filled with gratefulness, and sparkled in the moonlight.

Scully blushed a little. "_Pozhalsta_," she replied, giving him a sly grin. She was thankful it was dark, so that he couldn't see her little red cheeks. Krycek laughed and stood up. "Actually, thank you for what?" she continued, staring up at him.

"For listening. For letting me explain myself a little," he replied. "Come on, let's go get some coffee." He stuck out his hand, and beamed at the redhead.

Scully stared at the hand for a second before taking it, letting Krycek lead the way while they talked more about everything and nothing.


End file.
